1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the universal analytic technique concerned with the measurement of the interaction (usually the absorption or the emission) of radiant energy with matter, with the instruments necessary to make such measurements, and with the interpretation of the interaction both at the fundamental level and for practical analysis. Furthermore, this invention relates, in general, to managing spectral data generated in a variety of settings, and in particular, to an integrated, automated spectral data management system that can be adapted to a particular analytical environment.
2. Description of the Background Art
The background to the present invention and related art can be understood by reference to Applicant's own prior work, including in particular, U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,334 B1 (the '334 patent) entitled “Specialty Gas Analysis System” which issued Jun. 8, 2004. The '334 patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, for all purposes, including, but not limited to, supplying background and enabling those skilled in the art to understand, make, and use in Applicant's present invention.
Traditional methods for collecting and managing spectral data rely on data collection and analysis performed through a personal computer (PC) connected directly to a spectrometer, or other data collection device. The spectrometer could comprise any type of instrumentation that can scan and report a portion of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum (i.e. microwave, far Infrared, mid-infrared, near infrared, visible, UV, THz, x-ray, etc). In traditional spectral data collections systems, the manufacturer's software is connected directly to the spectrometer, and the user is limited to the functionality and capabilities of the software. The manufacturer's software normally provides capabilities to manually export the spectral records into other formats available in the market for storing spectral records.
In a typical analytical environment, there can exist other instruments, besides a spectrometer, used to monitor a variety of physical phenomena, including pressure and temperature transducers, flow meters, electrochemical cells, flame ionization detectors (FIDs), residual gas analyzers (RGA), etc. In this environment, each instrument is connected to a separate PC used for collecting and analyzing the data generated by that particular instrument. A quality control agent is responsible for manually tracking the quality of all data collection instrumentation and therefore, each PC connected to each collection instrument. Traditional data collection systems can also provide management of other functions such as quality control, sample plannings, management of users, invoicing, and automating workflow. Traditional data collection systems can be implemented to support other areas of system management, including information gathering, decision-making, review and release of information into the workplace and away from the workplace. Data management, data mining, and data analysis can be integrated into these existing systems. Several types of data might need to be managed by traditional systems, including instrument parameters, lab personnel, quantification analysis, test procedures, process line ID, process point, calibration certifications, sampling matrix, gas matrix certification, instrument validation, spectral records, and gas tanks signal-to-noise ratio.
There are certain disadvantages to the traditional spectral data collection methodology, however. Since all the instrumentation and computing devices are arranged as “stand-alone” workstations, any record keeping and communication between the workstations within a data collection system must be done manually by the quality control agent. This is a very time consuming and cost prohibitive process. Assembling data between the various workstations within the system and generating reports based on the assembled data from these workstations is very labor intensive as well. The quality control agent must manually gather the data from each individual workstation in order to compile the data into a meaningful report. Another drawback to the traditional system is the limitation in the software developed for each stand-alone workstation. The software developed for each workstation is unique for that particular workstation and is not necessarily compatible with the software running on other workstations in the system. Training a quality control agent in the specifics of each type of software can be cumbersome and an inefficient use of time. Manufacture-specific software may have limited connectivity to third party spectral collection and analysis software. Therefore, extended spectral analysis functionality and integration of the data reported by the spectral analysis software into an automated data storage system is not possible with the current systems. What is needed is an integrated and automated spectral data collection system that can be used in a variety of settings for improved quality control, process control, and data management.